WildAtHeartMay 22
Today's #LookingDown photo tells a gruesome tale. This dead buff-tailed #bumblebee is being investigated by #ants. Now, ants do a couple of interesting things with dead bees. They are either harvesting it for nutrients - a number of ants will swarm the body and dismantle it as it is rich in nutrients and will feed their young. Or, alternatively, if it is really starting to decay, a sanitation process called necropherosis will take place where they will move it away from the colony.
One thing I didn't know today was how closely related ants are to bees. Bee and ant corpses release similar chemical signals which, in the case of ants discovering a dead bee, prompts those specific sanitation or scavenging responses. #DamnNatureYouScary #CheesebeesPhotoChallenge2026Week21 #nature #wildlife
LuxomancerSep 21, 2023

This is a fun #Insect,a female Greene’s Giant Ichneumonid Wasp, #Megarhyssa greenei who is ovipositing her eggs into the larvae of a Pigeon Horntail Wasp, #Tremex columba which is buried deep into this Tupelo tree.

Marked as sensitive for insect content.

#Hymenoptera
#DamnNatureYouScary
#NaturePhotography
#Photography
#Inverterbrate

dankrollaAug 11, 2023

Found these cool berries. Not sure what they are but they look awesome and smell like peas when cut open

#marimoko #canada #alberta #nature #damnnatureyouscary #plants #idk

Thomas A. Hegna, Ph.DDec 14, 2022
On the 13th day of #Crustmas my true love gave to me Cymothoa exigua Schiødte & Meinert, 1884. Actually, C. exigua is NOT something your true love would give you. For those who want only sweet dreams, I beg that you turn away now. #isopoda #crustacea #arthropoda #malacostraca #damnnatureyouscary #nightmarefuel
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CodanautNov 24, 2022
Out looking for some lunch!
Taken this morning while driving through Custer State Park.
#nature #animal #photography #DamnNatureYouScary #wildlife